These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Impact of varenicline on cue-specific craving assessed in the natural environment among treatment-seeking smokers.
    Author: Gass JC, Wray JM, Hawk LW, Mahoney MC, Tiffany ST.
    Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl); 2012 Sep; 223(1):107-16. PubMed ID: 22476610.
    Abstract:
    RATIONALE: Varenicline is believed to work, in part, by reducing craving responses to smoking cues and by reducing general levels of craving; however, these hypotheses have never been evaluated with craving assessed in the natural environments of treatment-seeking smokers. OBJECTIVES: Ecological momentary assessment procedures were used to assess the impact of varenicline on cue-specific and general craving in treatment-seeking smokers prior to quitting. METHODS: For 5 weeks prior to quitting, 60 smokers carried personal digital assistants that assessed their response to smoking or neutral cues. During week 1 (baseline), participants did not receive medication; during weeks 2-4 (drug manipulation), participants were randomized to receive varenicline or placebo; during week 5 (standard therapy), all participants received varenicline. Craving was assessed before each cue; cue-specific craving and attention to cue were assessed after each cue. RESULTS: During all phases, smoking cues elicited greater craving than neutral cues; the magnitude of this effect declined after the first week. General craving declined across each phase of the study. Relative to the placebo condition, varenicline was associated with a greater decline in general craving over the drug manipulation phase. Varenicline did not significantly attenuate cue-specific craving during any phase of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking cues delivered in the natural environment elicited strong craving responses in treatment-seeking smokers, but cue-specific craving was not affected by varenicline administered prior to the quit attempt. These findings suggest that the clinical efficacy of varenicline is not mediated by changes in cue-specific craving during the pre-quit period of treatment-seeking smokers.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]